That is a very cool project! I'd love to see the build pictures u took.. how did you come up with this idea? How is the sound quality from the touch pad? A normal hu is like 50wx4 what does the pad put out? Awesome job man!

Thanks!

I've had a a tablet hooked into my old headunit for over a year now - velcroed to a small adjustable monitor mount.

I got tired of that real fast and I had to turn it on and off when I got in and out, it was slow - but it worked. When I saw the Nexus 7 was available I figured I'd go ahead and do it right; like you see in modern cars/trucks.

The tablet itself puts out probably a few watts but those go to this 45x4 Alpine amp.

I highly recommend it if anyone is doing something similar. It's very small 8" x 1.5" x 2.5" but puts out tons of sound through upgraded Alpine speakers. I think the gain on the amp is about 50% and I can't even turn the volume up all the way and still stay in the X. The sound quality is easily as good as anything I've heard in a car thanks to that amp and the sound processor used in the Nexus. I have an equalizer app that lets me get it just the way I like it.

I'll try and remember to put up the build pics tonight when I get home.

Awesome, thanks for the info! I'm going to have to seriously consider something like this when I get around to redoing my stereo.

A good double din deck with touch screen and GPS is about $800, so at that price you might as well get more out of it! Way to go!

The system isn't without its flaws so be warned. That said, I'd still prefer this over anything you can buy - mostly for price and the sheer speed/quality/versatility of the Nexus 7 over what you'd get in a OEM headunit.

For instance:
- It doesn't get OTA radio so if you don't have an internet connection you can only listen to what's stored on the device.
- In landscape orientation like it is, you can't see the screen if you are wearing polarized glasses.
- You loose two air vents. I use defrost and feet normally though so not a big deal.

Actually that's all I can think of right now... Other than it's a huge PITA to do this from scratch compared to just screwing in an OEM unit.

That is very cool...nice job with the glass. So your nexus is like a phone? Meaning it has constant internet access? Or do u have a mobile hotspot device?

Thanks. It wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be.

The Nexus I have is wi-fi only and I use the mobile hotspot on my phone for internet access. They did just release a HSPA+ version of it though so if you wanted to get a data contract from one of the carriers that use that (ATT/T-Mobile) it would have constant access.

It doesn't get OTA radio so if you don't have an internet connection you can only listen to what's stored on the device.

This is true, but does the international version have the FM built in? I'm asking because phone wise it appears most do (including my Galaxy S GT-i9300 and the Galaxy S GT-i9000T prior to that) but I'm not sure if the radio chipset the tablets come with support it at all.

Since the FM requires headphones plugged in to receive FM, the headphone to RCA cable would fill that roll if the unit its self supports it.

This is true, but does the international version have the FM built in? I'm asking because phone wise it appears most do (including my Galaxy S GT-i9300 and the Galaxy S GT-i9000T prior to that) but I'm not sure if the radio chipset the tablets come with support it at all.

Since the FM requires headphones plugged in to receive FM, the headphone to RCA cable would fill that roll if the unit its self supports it.

According to a thread titled **clears throat** "OMG Nexus 7 has not radio!!!!", the Nexus 7 does not, in fact, have an FM receiver chip. I think they were just experimenting with FM radio in a phones a couple years ago - I had one as well. Since then though, I haven't seen any new-ish phones/tablets (US versions anyway) with it...

But yeah, if you look at any international phone it's most likely going to have an FM Receiver in the chipset. I just didn't know if *any* tablets do (the Archos Media Players do, but they're around the same size as the SGS III, not a tablet size.

The Note II is still just too small (even if the international ones does have FM build it).. but I guess that's why you get Sprint or someone with an unlimited data plan if you really want to listen to live content (and pull up UStream)

Quote:

Originally Posted by chjade84

According to a thread titled **clears throat** "OMG Nexus 7 has not radio!!!!", the Nexus 7 does not, in fact, have an FM receiver chip. I think they were just experimenting with FM radio in a phones a couple years ago - I had one as well. Since then though, I haven't seen any new-ish phones/tablets (US versions anyway) with it...